Newmarket councilor Nazzaro to challenge Sen. Fuller Clark

NEWMARKET — Long-time Town Councilor and U.S. Army veteran Phil Nazzaro announced Wednesday that he is running as a Republican against state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth.

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By Jeff McMenemy

seacoastonline.com

By Jeff McMenemy

Posted Apr. 9, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Updated Apr 9, 2014 at 10:18 AM

By Jeff McMenemy

Posted Apr. 9, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Updated Apr 9, 2014 at 10:18 AM

» Social News

NEWMARKET — Long-time Town Councilor and U.S. Army veteran Phil Nazzaro announced Wednesday that he is running as a Republican against state Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth.

Nazzaro said he decided to enter the state District 21 race because he’s hopeful “a new voice up in Concord might change the dynamic.”

He decided to run against the popular and veteran Democratic state senator after as a town councilor he has witnessed the financial impact that unfunded state mandates have had on municipalities throughout the state.

“As a town councilor, we’ve had to deal with a lot of things coming down from the state that have put pressure on us,” Nazzaro said Wednesday.

He is also pushing for state lawmakers to spend more money on education, both helping to pay for school projects like the one that just failed in Newmarket and investing more in higher education.

But he doesn’t think the state needs to implement either a sales or income tax to make it happen. “I don’t think it’s an issue of needing more money. I think it’s an issue of setting priorities,” he said.

Nazzaro could not point yet to specific areas of the state budget that he’d like to cut, but said state lawmakers “have to understand there’s only so much revenue we can take from the populace.”

He pointed to the way the Newmarket Town Council has managed its limited resources during the last few years.

“I realize it’s on a much smaller scale, but ... look at what happened to our tax rate,” he said. “We managed to bring the tax rate down and stabilize it on the town side.”

At the same time, he wants to create an economic environment that encourages the creation of high-paying jobs in New Hampshire.

“For an individual to find a job that can support a family is hard,” he said. “It forces many individuals to move out of state or commute out of state for their jobs. We need solid jobs that pay a living wage in New Hampshire.”

State lawmakers have to do a better job of creating an environment where companies want to locate and that starts with cutting the business profits tax, Nazzaro said.

“It’s the highest in New England and among the highest in the United States,” he said. “If we’re going to expand the amount of businesses who come to the state, we have to lower that.”

He doesn’t believe the revenues lost by cutting the tax will have to be replaced because the lower taxes will encourage more businesses to come to New Hampshire.

Nazzaro also supports establishing a casino in New Hampshire, which Fuller Clark opposes. “I’m a free market person,” he said. “I believe it should be up to the individual if they gamble.”

Nazzaro, a West Point graduate who served as a company commander in Afghanistan and has a PhD in psychology and a master’s degree in education, said Wednesday it’s not “philosophically consistent” for someone to say they’re opposed to casino gambling but they’re not opposed to taking lottery revenues.

Although he’s running as a Republican, Nazzaro said if he is elected to the state Senate, he will work with anyone who wants to impose fiscal discipline on the state budget and make education spending a priority. “It’s not about parties, it’s about people,” he said. “We really need to work together.”

He acknowledged by running against Fuller Clark he’s running against a veteran and well-heeled opponent, who he looks forward to debating.

“I mean no disrespect. Her and I just have a difference of opinion on the issues,” he said.